Interpretive Summary: Vegetable oils have significant potential as a substitute for petroleum oil in grease formulation. This work describes a cost effective and environmentally safe process for preparation of bio-based grease with high oxidative stability and composition useful for industrial, agriculture/farming equipment and forestry applications. The process utilizes more oxidative stable epoxy vegetable oils as the base fluid, soap and several specialty chemicals identified to address specific application. Performance characteristics of the greases are largely dependent on their hardness and oxidative stability. Grease hardness, and their oxidative stability was determined using standard test methods. Wear data was generated using standard test method in four-ball test geometry. Results indicate that grease developed with this method can deliver at par or better performance properties than existing petroleum oil based grease. This grease can be a good substitute for petroleum oil-based greases in industrial, agriculture, forestry and marine applications.

Technical Abstract:
Vegetable oils have significant potential as a base fluid and a substitute for mineral oil for grease formulation. This paper describes a cost effective and environmentally safe process for preparation of bio-based grease with high oxidative stability and composition useful for industrial, agriculture/farming equipment and forestry applications. The process utilizes more oxidatively stable epoxy vegetable oils as the base fluid (and its derivatives), metal-soap thickener and several specialty chemicals identified to address specific application. Performance characteristics are largely dependent on the hardness and oxidative stability of grease used as industrial and automotive lubricant. Grease hardness was determined using standard test method and their oxidative stability using pressurized differential scanning calorimetry and rotary bomb oxidation test. Wear data was generated using standard test method in four-ball test geometry. Results indicate that grease developed with this method can deliver at par or better performance properties (effective lubrication, wear protection, corrosion resistance, friction reduction, heat removal etc.) than existing mineral oil based grease currently used in similar trade. Therefore, developed grease can be a good substitute for mineral oil-based greases in industrial, agriculture, forestry and marine applications.